


Sins of the Mother

by skittenninja



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Black Rocks (Disney: Tangled), Confrontations, Heavy Angst, Magic, Tragedy, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skittenninja/pseuds/skittenninja
Summary: Cassandra finally attacks the palace directly, and Eugene decides to confront her before she can carry out a grave and deadly act.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 67





	Sins of the Mother

Eugene had been hoping that it wouldn’t come to this.

Perhaps ‘hope’ wasn’t even a strong enough word for it. He’d _convinced_ himself, deep down, that Cass would never go this far. It was simply not a possibility, a future he would not have to think about because he would never have to confront it.

He desperately wished he’d been right, and at the same time wished his hope hadn’t been shattered along with the palace windows.

Eugene knew where Rapunzel was. But Cass knew it too, and she would know exactly what route to take to get there as fast as possible.

And at this point, Eugene was well-acquainted enough with her and the palace that he knew what that route would be.

So, there he stood. In the middle of one of the halls, portraits of long-gone royals staring down at him. They were waiting, and so was he.

No one had to wait long, as Cass rounded the corner moments later, sword in hand and confidence in her step. Even now, she didn’t seem like she was malicious. She was approaching this the same way she approached orders she’d carried out for the guard, like it was a task that needed to be completed and nothing more.

Then, when she looked at Eugene standing in front of her, she looked at him like an obstacle. The way she used to look at anyone or anything trying to prevent her from doing her duty. Never did Eugene think that look would be turned towards him, and never did he think her ‘duty’ would be something so dark.

“Step aside, Fitzherbert,” Cass said flatly, face unchanging. Eugene couldn’t read what she was feeling. He thought maybe that was for the best, in case he found there was no remorse.

“You know, you could have started with a ‘hi, how’s it going, haven’t seen you in a while,’ what with your already rude introduction of crashing through the windows instead of using the door. I know you’re usually curt, but this is a whole new level,” he replied, keeping himself intact by speaking in a joking tone and punctuating the sentence with a laugh.

“I don’t have time for this. I’m not here to play games.” She started walking forwards again, to which Eugene responded by drawing his sword.

Cass froze again, and this time her mask broke. Surprise and what seemed to be sorrow flickered across her face, as if she too had been hoping for something different.

“I know you’re not,” Eugene said, dropping the humour. If she was letting down her defenses, it was only fair that he let down his.

Cass took in a breath before speaking again, as if preparing herself mentally and physically.

“Listen, Eugene. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t even want to hurt _her_ , not really. But she has stolen _so much_ from me,” her voice quivered in the middle of her sentence, the armour that was her steely tone crumbling, “and this is one thing that I can take back. I need that power.”

“No, you want that power, Cass. There’s a difference.”

He hadn’t meant for it to come out so harshly, and the venom in his words caused Cass to flinch.

“I…” Eugene started, trying to articulate what he wanted to say but not knowing how. He’d never talked about how any of this had affected him, and now that there was so much that had been built up, it was all just one big tempest ravaging his heart and mind. Words could no longer adequately explain the damage it was doing.

Regardless, he was going to give it a try.

“I’ve never been good with words. Well, words of the personally honest kind. I never used to share my feelings with other people, so I don’t know how clumsily this is going to come out, but I need you to understand that you’re hurting people here.”

“I know that,” Cass said coldly. “I know Rapunzel is upset with me, but I can’t let myself care about that right now.”

“I’m not just talking about Rapunzel here.”

She looked stunned for a moment, not saying anything else so that he could elaborate.

“And I’m not just talking about the rest of the kingdom either, because I think the broken houses outside have made that pretty clear to you. You are… or were like a sister to me. I cared about you a lot. I still care about you. And I know we were at odds with each other sometimes but even through that, even now, I understand why. Because I understand why you’re doing this.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“I know you’re hurting,” Eugene continued, “I know what it feels like to be lost, and to feel like the world always passes you over for someone else. To feel like if you just had enough money, or power, then maybe everyone would think you’re important enough to remember. Now, I can’t pretend to understand what your mother put you through, and I can’t pretend our lives were the same, but I can assure you that despite all that, you’re not alone. And for the stuff that I don’t get, well, that’s why I’m here to listen.”

Cass stood there for several long moments that seemed to stretch into eternity, considering what he’d said. She’d put that metaphorical mask back on, and Eugene could no longer tell what she was feeling or thinking.

“There are people in your corner,” he said softly. “You don’t need to do this.”

Cass gave her answer by narrowing her eyes and moving to a fighting stance.

“I’m not like you, and talking won’t fix what’s happened. Acting will. Now move out of my way.”

She started walking once more, but Eugene blocked her path, sword at the ready.

“I’m sorry, Cassandra. But this is a line I can’t let you cross.”

She looked stunned for a moment, and it took Eugene the same amount of time to realize that he’d pronounced her name right.

The effect wore off quickly, as she charged at him right afterwards. Eugene barely had time to parry and defend himself. Cass’ combat skills already outweighed his on a normal day, and with the moonstone’s power, there was now a massive gap. He knew that, realistically, he couldn’t keep this up. He couldn’t win in a physical fight.

But he had to try.

For Rapunzel.

Their blades clashed only a few more times before Eugene’s sword was sliced in two by Cassandra’s. He would have expected it to happen far sooner, but it seemed that she’d been hitting it as lightly as possible to avoid breaking it. Even now, she was holding back.

Eugene pulled out his dagger and futilely aimed for the hilt of the sword. Naturally, it shattered upon impact, but damaging the sword was never his true intent with that action. It distracted Cass long enough for Eugene to charge at her. At first, she held the sword in front of her instinctively to defend herself but moved it once she seemed to remember who she was fighting.

Both of them crashed to the ground, and Cassandra’s indecision about her sword’s position from a second ago caused her to lose her grip on it. It skidded across the floor and away from them, and Eugene was determined to be the first to reach it. He quickly got to his feet and ran towards it, attempting to grab it with one hand but soon realizing it was heavier than he expected. With a second hand, he lifted it and turned just in time to see a black rock breaking through the ground and heading straight towards him.

He yelped and dodged just in time, running back towards where he was standing before so he could still block Cass’ path. She appeared to have realized that her holding back was only giving him an upper hand, and the ferocity in her eyes indicated that she was no longer going to allow that.

A flurry of black rocks started rushing towards Eugene, the floor and even the walls cracking as they refused to abandon their path. He managed to cut through the first few but could not find a moment of rest, as more and more continued to follow. Slowly, they created a slanted black tower, a wave of darkness that was beginning to envelop him. He could only cut through so many at a time, and it wasn’t long before they overwhelmed him.

Eugene then noticed movement, a kind different from the black rocks, out of his peripherals. Cass had used the rocks to create a kind of ramp to go over him, and he’d been so busy trying to cut through them that he hadn’t noticed. His back was to her now, and she was heading once more on her destructive path.

Frantically, Eugene cut through more and more of the rocks, which continued to appear and grow even though Cass had already made it past him. He needed to chase after Cassandra, but a bunch of very sharp objects rushing at him wasn’t something he could ignore.

In one last attempt, Eugene quickly tried to turn away from the rocks and towards Cassandra, hoping that if he could escape fast enough then none of them would touch him.

This was yet another hope that was shattered.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as he tried to break away. As he watched one of the rocks suddenly sprout from the ground, aiming straight for his torso. As he realized, with a heavy heart, that the sword wasn’t going to reach it in time.

Eugene closed his eyes as he felt the rock finally reach him, unable to suppress a cry of pain.

He didn’t have to look to know that this new wound was in exactly the same place as the one that had killed him only a couple of years ago.

In his agony-filled stupor, Eugene realized that the rocks had stopped moving. He didn’t know if it was because Cassandra knew what had happened to him, or if it was just bad timing. What he did know was that it didn’t really matter.

The familiarity of it all caused Eugene to feel like he was in the tower again. He was dying, and if he just opened his eyes again then he’d see Rapunzel. She’d be right there, and he could still save her somehow.

But when he opened his eyes again, he remembered that things were different this time.

Rapunzel wasn’t there.

Through Eugene’s hazy unfocused vision, he briefly saw Gothel in front of him, a fearful part of his mind still stuck in the tower.

Then he realized it was Cass, looking at him with what seemed to be horror.

As the world faded away, Eugene thought about how fitting it was that she’d finished what her mother had ultimately failed to.

He could only hope that the same would not be true for her quest for Rapunzel’s power.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 9th anniversary to Tangled! It felt pretty appropriate to post this today of all days.


End file.
